Heart of the Matter
by sasha1600
Summary: Part of my 'Lessons' series. Tag to Heartland. Warning: discussion of corporal punishment of children; disciplinary spanking of an adult.
1. Chapter 1

**Heart of the Matter**

**Summary:** Part of my 'Lessons' series. Tag to Heartland. **Warning:** discussion of corporal punishment of children; disciplinary spanking of an adult.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I just play with them.

* * *

**Warning:** This is part of my 'Lessons' series and builds on a larger plot arc. This story contains discussion of the corporal punishment of children and the disciplinary spanking of an adult. If you have a problem with that, click on that 'back' button now. You've been warned!

* * *

Gibbs smiled fondly as he watched Tony make his way slowly around the store, clearly using his investigative skills to catalogue every detail. The tins of soup, the boxes of matches, the bottles of dish soap – everything was noted and filed away in Tony's remarkable memory. It wasn't until the younger man reached the well-scrubbed counter and the neat rows of candy that lined it that he stopped and stared.

Gibbs knew he wasn't staring at the candy.

Rather, it was the solid-looking wooden paddle mounted on the front of the counter, centred among the displayed sweets, that had caught his attention.

'Uh... Boss? What...'

It was Jack who answered, looking up from his crossword puzzle.

'I find that's a much more effective deterrent against shoplifting than threatening to call that useless Sherriff. Not too many kids around here think it's worth it to swipe a candy bar when they know I'm going to take that paddle to their backsides for it.'

Tony's eyes grew wide as he processed the information.

'But...'

'It's a small town, Tony,' Gibbs explained, remembering all too well how much use that paddle had received during his childhood. 'Things are different out here.'

Tony still looked sceptical, clearly not really believing that there were still parents who would be ok with the guy who ran the store spanking their kids. Gibbs didn't elaborate.

And he certainly didn't comment on the fact that the _kids_ didn't always share their parents' views that they deserved what Jack handed out. That damned paddle explained most of the fights that he'd been in, growing up. More than a few of the boys at school had tried to express their unhappiness about a sore ass by knocking him on his. He'd learned to defend himself long before he joined the Corps. In fact, he suddenly realised, he probably owed some of his success as a Marine to that paddle.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony glanced over his shoulder one last time, then slipped behind the counter. Gibbs had gone with his father on his morning walk, and Tony wasn't sure whether he'd have another opportunity to be alone in the store. If he was going to satisfy his curiosity, it would have to be now.

His eyes fixed on the Winchester mounted high on the wall, he took a step closer, then another.

Even though Gibbs told him he was never allowed to fire his father's rifle, he could tell that it had been an object of fascination for him as a boy. And it had quickly become one for him, too.

He reached up a tentative hand just as the door swung open behind him and the room filled with Gibbs's protests about not going for a walk in the rain.

Snatching his hand back, he spun around, trying to look innocent. Jack fixed him with a hard, knowing look that made Tony wilt.

'Tony, you're lucky we came back when we did. If you'd actually gotten your hands on that rifle, I'd have taken that paddle to your backside,' Jack told him, nodding in the general direction of the wooden implement that hung on the front of the counter. 'Don't think I won't, if you try that again.'

Tony swallowed hard. A part of him was fascinated by the thought of being spanked by Gibbs's father, of being punished by the same hands that had once punished his boss. And even though he knew that Jack spanked thieving neighbourhood children, the threat had felt more personal than that. But at the same time, he didn't particularly want to be spanked at all. And for reasons that he couldn't explain, he didn't like the idea of being spanked by anyone other than Gibbs.

To Tony's surprise, it was his boss who protested.

'No, you won't.'

'Leroy, that boy of yours could...'

'Exactly. He's my responsibility.'

'Leroy...'

'Dad, you are not spanking Tony. If he screws up, I'll take care of it.'

Tony watched helplessly. That tone left him with no doubt about _how_ Gibbs would take care of him, if he thought he needed it. He hadn't been punished since he'd returned from the _Seahawk_, and he'd been starting to wonder whether Gibbs would still spank him, with everything that had changed. It was strangely comforting to know that Gibbs had no qualms about continuing that aspect of their relationship. But he wasn't sure how he felt about Jack's description of him as Gibbs's boy, or about his apparent willingness to spank him, too. Or about Gibbs's insistence on punishing him himself. Or about the possibility that Jack would figure out _how_ Gibbs would punish him.

But before he could figure out what his reactions meant, Gibbs sent him out to interview more witnesses.


	3. Chapter 3

Gibbs looked up from where he was sweeping, and glanced at Tony. He knew the younger man was bored, but there was nothing they could do on the case until the search warrants came through. But just as he was about to suggest that his antsy agent should go for a run, Tony stopped drumming his fingers on the counter and disappeared down one of the aisles, apparently continuing his exploration of the store.

A minute later, he reappeared, juggling some small balls that he'd obviously found on one of the shelves.

'Tony...' Gibbs growled warningly.

'What?'

'If you break something in here...'

'C'mon, Boss, I'm not going to...'

But before he could even finish the sentence, Tony lost control of one of the balls. It bounced off the edge of a shelf, knocking over several boxes of cereal before careening past him and smashing into a cola display. A three-foot fall was enough to split open the plastic bottles, spraying Tony from head to foot with their pressurised contents.

Gibbs leaned the broom against a shelf, promising his father that Tony would clean up the mess he'd made in a few minutes. He seized his agent by the arm and steered him firmly towards the back room.

But not before he grabbed the paddle from the counter.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs propelled his protesting agent through the doorway, keeping a firm hand on the younger man's arm.

'C'mon, Boss...' Tony whined. 'You can't spank me! It was an accident! And, isn't there a rule that, once you start spanking other people, you don't get spanked yourself? And I spanked that kid on the Seahawk, so...'

Gibbs shook his head, not bothering to hide his smile. They both knew that he wouldn't spank him, if Tony genuinely refused. But he also knew Tony well enough to recognise that, while he obviously didn't _want_ to be spanked, he didn't really object to being punished. If he meant it, he'd just say 'no'; he wouldn't wheedle like a kid trying to convince his father to let him off for some misdemeanour. And he certainly wouldn't bring up his own use of the kind of off-the-record consequences that he'd learned at Gibbs's hands.

Tony had called him after he'd dealt with the pot-smoking sailor, and he'd reassured the shaken Agent Afloat that he'd done the right thing, but he'd also dashed his hope that it would get easier, doling out punishment, with repetition. After that conversation, Gibbs hadn't been sure that Tony was willing to consider there being a next time. He didn't like to think that Tony's first time punishing someone had been traumatic enough to permanently influence his leadership style, so it was reassuring that he was now describing that evening as the 'start' of a pattern, rather than as a one-off event. Even if he was trying to use it to get out of a spanking. Now, still grinning, he dashed that hope, too.

'You think Mike Franks cared that I was used to spanking my Marines, DiNozzo?'

Tony sighed dramatically and muttered, 'Had to try...'

Gibbs didn't bother replying. Instead, he spun the younger man towards the side of the room where Tony's overnight bag was leaning against the wall.

'Get out of those wet clothes,' he ordered.

'Boss, I...'

'Tony, get changed. I don't want you getting sick, and you can't go out like that when the warrants come through.'

Tony slowly stripped off his sodden clothing and pulled on a dry shirt, obviously trying to postpone the spanking as long as possible. He was shaking out a folded pair of jeans when Gibbs stopped him.

'You might as well leave those off. Get over here.'

Tony looked at him in dismay, clearly unhappy about not being allowed the protection – physical and emotional – of being fully dressed. After a moment, he sighed audibly and dropped the jeans onto a stack of boxes and padded towards him in his stocking feet.

Gibbs seized the younger man by one wrist and towed him towards a battered brown corduroy couch, pulling him firmly over his lap as he sat down. He ignored Tony's squawk of protest, and brought the paddle down hard on his ass before he spoke.

'You've been acting all of ten years old all day, Tony. You only do that when you want my attention. Well, you've got it.'

Tony yelped and squirmed as he proceeded to pepper his backside with swat after swat. He knew from experience that his father made excellent paddles, and he had every intention of satisfying his surrogate son's curiosity once and for all. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to bring Tony to Stillwater in the first place; they had enough daemons between the two of them to make this 'conversation' more or less inevitable. Now he was just hoping that they'd only have to have it once.

Gibbs landed a final solid swat to the back of his thighs, turning the exposed skin an instant, vivid pink, and helped Tony to his feet. One arm draped affectionately around his shoulders, he steered the younger man to the small lavatory.

'Take your time, Tony. When you're ready, you can come out and apologise to Jack, and clean up that mess you made. And yes,' he added, seeing him begin to speak, 'you have to.'

Suppressing a smile at the sight of his senior agent pouting and rubbing his backside like a chastened schoolboy, Gibbs turned on his heel and headed back to the store, wondering what his father would make of the turn of events.


	5. Chapter 5

'Sorry, Jack,' Tony muttered sheepishly. The last time he'd felt like this, he'd been in third grade, apologising to one of the gardeners for decapitating the rosebushes with his new toy sword. He wasn't sure if being watched by Gibbs was better or worse than being dragged out to the potting shed by his ear by his grandmother.

'The mop is over in that corner, Tony,' the older man replied matter-of-factly, smiling kindly at him.

Grateful that his mentor's father wasn't making a bigger deal about his behaviour, Tony went to fetch the mop.

'And put on something warmer than that shirt. You're going to catch your death, like that.'

Tony flushed.

'My jacket got wet. I hung it up on that line you have in the back, but...'

He trailed off, glancing questioningly at his boss when Jack disappeared through the door into the back room. Gibbs simply shrugged and motioned at him to start cleaning up the mess he'd made earlier.

Jack returned a few minutes later, carrying a cream-coloured sweater. To Tony's surprise, Jack handed it to him and ordered him to put it on. He tried to decline, pointing out that, in his job, he could easily ruin the sweater, even if he tried to be careful.

'That sweater was a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law years ago. Never did fit me. But it looks like it should be close to your size, so it may as well finally get some use made of it. Now, put that on.'

Further protest was clearly pointless. So, leaning the mop against the counter, Tony pulled on the cardigan, feeling a rush of warmth that had nothing to do with the thick wool.


End file.
